Sikkim to Fine Tourists for plastic dump on Mountains

Gangtok, June 10: Tourists who leave behind empty food packets and plastic water bottles while visiting high-altitude areas of North Sikkim would be fined by the local governing body of Lachung village from now on.
Members of the Lachung Dzumsa have said a minimum of Rs 1,000 will be charged if a visitor is seen throwing waste in these tourist hotspots.

Dzumsa is an age-old system of governance practised in Lachen and Lachung villages and is protected under the Sikkim Panchayat Act 1995.

The governing body is headed by two pipons (headman) elected by the villagers for a period of one year.

“We have formed a committee to keep our tourism destinations clean. The committee will be divided into groups for Lachung, Yumthang Valley and Yume Samdong. They will be submitting monthly reports to us. Those tourists and drivers who discard wastes without keeping in mind the purity of tourism areas will be fined a minimum amount of Rs 1,000,” said Lachung pipon Tendup Lachungpa.

Starting from Chungthang, the Dzumsa jurisdiction extends up to Yumthang Valley (24km from Lachung) and Yume Samdong (50km from Lachung) in North Sikkim.

Around 250 tourist vehicles visit Lachung, 119km from Gangtok, every day during the peak season in summer.

Besides Lachung the other tourist hotspots in the area include the Yumthang Valley (11,800 feet) and Yume Samdong (15,300 feet).

Lachung is at 8,700 feet. Most of the places are strewn with empty chips and noodle packets, juice tetra packs and mineral water bottles.

“We have ordered those running tea and snack stalls at Yumthang Valley and Yume Samdong to form committees and collect and dispose the garbage. Biodegradable garbage will be disposed by them and non-biodegradable items will be sent to Gangtok where we will be teaming up with the forest and urban development departments for their disposal,” said another pipon of Lachung, C. Namgyal Lachungpa.

The Lachung pipons have requested the taxi drivers visiting the areas from Gangtok to take non-biodegradable trash collected from Yumthang Valley and Yume Samdong and take them back to the state capital.

“The taxi drivers have been asked to brief their passengers so that they don’t litter around or leave empty chip and food packets and mineral water plastic bottles behind. Drivers have been told that they should not do drunken or rash driving or smoke cigarettes once they cross Chungthang and enter the Lachung Dzumsa territory. We want our tourists to feel safe once they enter Lachung,” said the adviser to Travel Agents’ Association of Sikkim, Palzor Lachungpa.

Sikkim continue to draws record Summer tourists

Photo: Tourist watching the panoramic view of Gangtok Town

GANGTOK,April 30 - Tourist arrivals in Sikkim record an increase due to its natural beauty and peaceful environment.


Around 2,80,000 tourists visited Sikkim in the first five months of 2009, which is nearly 35 percent more than the last year.

Some tourists even compare the scenic beauty of the State to some of the cities in Europe.We find Sikkim a very beautiful place. It is very neat, clean and lovely…. You can almost compare it with one of the cities in Europe,” said Arvind Dasyu, a tourist from Maharashtra.

“Just for natural beauty. The town is very much fresh and clean and the people are very much cooperative. So we had the intention to come here,” said Prosonjeet Sarkar, a tourist from West Bengal.

Photo: Domestic Tourists enjoying the snow falling at Tsomo lake area

According to the local tour operators, Sikkim came under the focus of tourism from 1992. Since then, tourist arrivals have been increasing at a rapid pace.

“Earlier Sikkim was not in focus but since 1992, Sikkim came under the focus of tourism because of its natural beauty. Sikkim has green forests, falls, rivers and streams, mountain peaks which tourists love to see and experience because nowadays people remain busy in their fast lives. So in order to attain peace, they come here,” said Deepak Kumar Rai, a local tour operator.

Sikkim has declared the year 2010 as the Year of Tourism and lined up as many as 13 festivals to woo the visitors and develop the tourism sector as its main source of revenue and employment.

Fifty eight million rupees have been injected by the central Government in nineteen projects for infrastructure development of North Sikkim during 2007-08.

The Centre has funded twelve projects as Centrally Sponsored Schemes from Ministry of Tourism; six projects have been funded as the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) while the State government, as per official reports, has funded one project.

Nestling in the Himalayas, Sikkim is the least populous State in India and the second smallest in area after Goa.

Wet weather spells casts fear of dull tourist season

Siliguri, Oct.7: Tour operators are worried that inflow of visitors to north Bengal and Sikkim will be hit if there is no let-up in the heavy rain that has been lashing the region for the past 24 hours.

The rain comes at a time the tourism season is picking up and people are getting ready to celebrate Kali Puja.

“We saw a huge footfall of tourists during Durga Puja that was celebrated without any climatic disturbances. But we are worried that the sudden shower will disrupt roads and vacationers will not be able to make it to the hills. The weather has caused immense havoc during the tourism season earlier this year,” said Santosh Gupta, the director of Travel Junction, a Darjeeling-based tour agency.

“It is mostly south Indians who visit the region during the season that begins in mid-September and continues till the end of the year and they prefer warm climate to cold and wet weather spells. We hope that the rain does not last for too long,” he added.

Weather experts, however, forecast that the incessant rain would continue for two more days before the sky became clear.

“The heavy rain was caused by a low pressure that was formed in the region last evening. Otherwise, intermittent showers are normal at this time as the monsoon is yet to withdraw,” said Subir Sarkar, the in-charge of the weather station at North Bengal University.

Tour operators in the Dooars, too, fear the wet weather might play spoilsport for the visitors who want to view animals in Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary.

“The bookings this time are good compared to what we had received last year. But most animals take refuge deep inside the forest and do not come out during the wet weather. The tourists will be disappointed if they cannot see the animals. If the rain persists, we will lose many tourists who fly down to visit the Dooars at this time of the year,” said Kamal Bhowmik, the secretary of the Lataguri Resort Owners’ Association

Darjeeling tourism crippled by Water tankers’ strike

DARJEELING, October 5: Giving no respite to a bandh hit tourism industry in Darjeeling, a strike called by drivers of water tankers, the elixir of the hill station, has brought an excellent tourism season here down to its knees.
The strike which began from yesterday had a rippling effect not only on the tourism stakeholders but also the common people here in the hill town. The agitating drivers are demanding that the tankers be allowed to enter the town and distribute water as per their convenience.
Talks at various levels from today morning have failed to mitigate the issue.
The resultant water scarcity have forced the hotels here to started rejecting new tourists while forcing the guests to bring their Darjeeling sojourn to an abrupt end from today.
“Water had stopped coming from yesterday and we are out of water so we are compelled to ask our guests to check out”, said a hotel owner. We are also unable to take in new guests, he added.
Almost all the hotels here depend on water tankers for their daily water supply of 15000 to 18000 litres.
After a tumultuous nine months, a good season had beckoned for the tourism industry in Darjeeling this puja break with arrival of domestic and foreign tourists in good numbers leading to packed hotels.
However, the problem posed by agitating water tanker drivers has spoiled a good ending for the tourism industry of Darjeeling. Locals are also facing water supply problems in the town area which already notorious for its meager water supply sources.
Meanwhile, the drivers are adamant that they be allowed to ply their tankers in the bazaar area as per the old timetable – till 8 am in the morning, between 11 am to 3 pm and after 6 pm in the evening.
The Darjeeling traffic police had tweaked the existing time table to allow the tankers to enter the bazaar area only between 1 pm to 4 pm in the afternoon which led to the strike call.
An offer of 12 noon to 4 pm timetable by the police to the drivers was not accepted leading to the impasse.
At the same time, the Darjeeling Hotel Owners Association has appealed to the drivers to call of their strike.
The water tanker drivers have also not allowed other private vehicles to ferry water into the town .

Truck drivers in Darjeeling have suspended till 9am tomorrow an indefinite strike they called to protest against the new timings imposed by traffic police for water supply in the town.The strike today affected the residents as well as the 300-odd hotels, which entirely depend on the trucks for the water supply.

Mitra Rai, officer-in-charge (traffic), said: “The restriction has been imposed considering the fact that tourists, who get down from trains at NJP in the morning, reach Darjeeling between 10am and 11am. We are trying to ensure that the traffic is smooth from 10am to 1pm.”

Earlier, the tankers were allowed to ply between 11am and 3pm and from 5pm to 8am.
Today, the police told the drivers that the trucks could run in the town from 12pm to 4pm everyday. A representative of the drivers said they would decide tomorrow whether they should accept the timing the police offered today.

Sikkim Tourist complaints of being fleeced

GANGTOK, October 4: The State Tourism Secretary SBS Bhadauria today expressed concern over incidents of fleecing tourists on transportation cost while visiting different places in the State.
Mr. Bhadauria also informed that the department has been receiving several complaints from the visiting tourists of charging too much at hotels and taxis especially in the State Capital. This, the secretary said was also a matter of concern for tourists, who are at present making several complaints to the department.
According to source information, one of the hotels in the Capital has been booked for overcharging after getting a compliant from the tourists. Now the department is in the process of cancelling the license of that hotel, said the source.
Speaking to media, Amit Dey, a tourist from Kolkata said, despite going through the government approved rate boards, some of the drivers in Gangtok were charging more on the pretext of waiting charge.
In this context, the secretary said that the vehicle rates have already been fixed by Motor Vehicles Department which is to be displayed clearly in every tourist vehicle. At the same time, it is informed that drivers ferrying tourists seldom comply with the government approved rate board.
Mr. Bhadauria added that the department has made mandatory to issue cash receipts for all the service provided to any customers. “Anyone found violating the guidelines will be taken serious actions by the department,” the secretary added.

Govt to put curbs on the number of tourists visiting the Himalayas

New Delhi: The government could soon place curbs on the number of tourists visiting the Himalayas. The Union ministry for environment and forests has come out with a set of guidelines to restrict tourist flow (pilgrims included) and make hill stations less crammed and dirty.
The impact of tourism on mountain ecosystems and biological resources are of great concern because of the high biodiversity and environmental sensitivity of the Himalayas. The guidelines, will discuss urbanisation, tourism, water security, energy, forest management and infrastructure to address the challenges facing the Himalayan region. It is part of one of the eight missions in National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which envisages, among other things, a National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem.

Minister of state for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, said that there were "valuable lessons in this document that need to be mainstreamed". Since these aspects come under the states' purview, Ramesh said it is a working document meant to guide governments on what is to be done.

The aim is to promote "sustainable tourism through adoption of 'best practice' norms of eco-friendly and responsible tourism", as stated in National Environment Policy. It seeks to implement measures to regulate tourist flow and ensure that these remain within the carrying capacity of the ecology.

The document notes the adverse effects of expansion in urban settlements -- visitors, trekkers and mountaineers have posed high biotic pressure and increased the accumulation of solid waste on the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). The report notes the attempts made to address these issues in some parts of IHR and recommends they be replicated in other areas as well. Pilgrim traffic finds special mention.

The Himalayas host a number of religious/sacred sites which get millions of tourists each year. Most of these places lack adequate transport accommodation and waste disposal facilities.

In some cases, initiatives have been taken to promote sustainable tourism. For example, the Uttarakhand government has restricted the number of tourists visiting the origin of the Ganga to 150 per day.

Cultural identities are also under threat "by the economic, social and environmental forces associated with mountain tourism", the report observes.

In spite of Sikkim's effortsto place checks on tourists, tourism has grown rapidly (from nearly 15,000 tourists in 1980 to 3,50,000 in 2007 ) in the state. The report suggests that Sikkim's initiatives could be emulated by those interested in promoting responsible tourism.

Sikkim to celebrate 2010 as Year of Tourism

Gangtok, Sep30: A tentative blueprint has been charted by the Sikkim Tourism Department to have year-round activities for its most ambitious project, `2010 - Year of Tourism'.

Thirteen tourism festivals have been proposed from 2010 to February 2011. The State Government has already declared last year that the year 2010 will be celebrated as the `Year of Tourism' with an objective to reinforce the image of Sikkim as a premier tourism destination besides strengthening the village tourism in the State.

The Government is also seeking to have a 30 per cent increase in the tourism inflow during the `Year of Tourism 2010' celebrations. Around five lakh tourists have visited Sikkim in 2008-09.

SLOGAN

With this objective in mind, the State tourism department is presently engaged in coining an appropriate slogan for the upcoming Year of Tourism, to be used as a brand name for the tourism campaign.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

The advance action plans being mulled are finalising service providers for publicity, market and publishing publicity materials. Meetings and action plans with all the stakeholders such as Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS), Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators (SAATO), Sikkim Hotel Restaurants Association, transport agencies and village tourism development committees will also be held.

The other plans are publishing Sikkim tourism bulletin, State tourism master plan along with Uttarey master plan, State tourism policy, garbage bags distribution and management besides management of Saramsa garden along with permanent traditional food stalls, handicraft stalls, flower stalls and cultural programmes.

Strengthening of accommodation, hotels, home stays and village tourism along with all tourism related services are included in the plan.

The State Government is keen to enforce discipline in overall tourism sector here during celebrations.

FESTIVALS

The draft plan has proposed that the year of tourism will kickstart from March-April with `Sikkim Discover Festival' followed by Rabong Discover tourism festival, Aritar tourism festival and Temi- Tarku Ram Navami festival.

The month of May will see the hosting of International Rhododendron Festival (IRF) 2010 at Shingba Lachung in North Sikkim and Varsey in West Sikkim.

The rhododendron festival has been proposed to be held from May 3 to 20. In this month, the Hee-Bermoik Cultural Heritage Festival in West Sikkim will also be held.

The `World Environment Day' which falls on June 5 will be celebrated in a grand manner. The rainy July will see plantation drives in all the tourist destinations of the State. Tourists will also be encouraged to plant saplings in the tourist destinations. Conferences, workshops, seminars and meetings will also be conducted.

A monsoon festival will be held on August 5 at Tharpu in West Sikkim.

In September, the department is proposing to have a two day `World Tourism Day' celebrations where eco-adventure, camping, village tourism and home stay activities will be organised.

The festival month of October will have two more festivals. The department has proposed to celebrate the Dusherra festival while Namchi Mahotsava in South Sikkim will also be conducted in this month.

November will have conferences, workshops, seminars and meetings on tourism related themes. Three tourism festivals have been included in December - Mangan Music Festival in North Sikkim, Khangchendzonga Festival at Pelling, West Sikkim and Gangtok Winter Festival.

The 2010 year will be signed off with a grand New Year celebration in January 2011 followed by Maghey Sankranti Mela at Jorethang in South Sikkim. A tourism festival at Yuksom in the West District is proposed inFebruary 2011 while a State flower show at White Hall complex in Gangtok has been proposed in March 2011, thereby, bringing down the curtains on the Year of Tourism

Sikkim welcomes world tourist:TAAS president Lachungpa

World Tourism Day 2009 : tourism celebrating diversity

Gangtok, September 23 : Adding perspective to the role of globalization in balancing tourism influx and environmental and cultural sustainability, this year’s theme of World Tourism Day as “Tourism - Celebrating Diversity" aims to shed light on the most human side of the industry – its capacity to build understanding, foster social inclusion, and promote higher standards of living. The Day will commemorate on coming Sunday.

Increasing awareness on tourism and its role as an industrious movement and its undeniable prospective to generate employment, state income, and other benefits whether directly or indirectly in the economy of the state is pleasing, said Palzor Lachungpa, President Travel Agent Association of Sikkim (TASS).
The theme of the year is suitable for Sikkim in view of its Bio-diversity nature as big collection in small room, he added.
Government of Sikkim declared year 2010 as tourism year and we hope world tourist will be certainly magnetize by Sikkim’s peace and Bio-diversity nature, Lachungpa added. Sikkim is the most peaceful state in India as well as world tourism destination.
He denied some media reports on sinking flow of tourist in Sikkim following Chinese incursion reports appeared in media. As per his observation, decline of tourist flow is global phenomenon of this year. Clarifying the reports of media he said, ‘I am the resident of Lachung, North Sikkim close with China border. But I never seen any extra army movement and never heard any danger. Sikkim is very peaceful and we are ready to welcome world tourist as our family guest.’
Purpose of the World Tourism Day is to promote awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political, and economic value.

Inner Line Permit to Sikkim relaxed for foreign tourists

GANGTOK, September 15: In a positive development for promotion of international tourism here, the Centre has accorded significant relaxation to the Protected Area regime in Sikkim besides decentralizing the powers to issue Protect Area Permits (PAP)/Restricted Area Permits (RAP).
Foreigners require an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to enter the border State of Sikkim and special permits are required to visit tourism spots like Guru Dongmar or trek along Dzongri areas near the border in West Sikkim which are declared as Restricted Areas. The whole of Sikkim is covered by the Protected Area Regime under Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order of 1958 and Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order, 1963 respectively.
Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has been demanding the Centre for lifting the ILP formality for attracting more foreign tourists to Sikkim. The proposal of the State Government which has been under the consideration of the Centre has finally seen some endorsement.
In a recent communiqué with the State Government, the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed its decision to delegate additional powers to Sikkim government for the issues of PAP and RAP.
The State Government is now empowered to issue PAP/RAP to foreign tourists in group of two or above ‘with a recognized travel agent’ who would act as an escort. Earlier, the permits were given only to foreign tourists in group of four or above.
However, the existing restrictions on the visit of Rumtek Monastery and restriction on the movement of Tibetan refugees need to be enforced, the Centre said.
In another noteworthy relaxation, the Centre has also allowed the State government to issue the permits to foreign tourists initially for a period of 30 days extendable to another spell of 30 days.
Earlier, only 15 days permit used to be given for foreign tourists visiting Sikkim extendable to another 15 days following an application.
Further decentralizing the permit system, the Centre has informed the State Government of its decision to entrust power for RAP/PAP to Tourist Information Centre (TIC) at Darjeeling and Melli in South Sikkim
Before this, PAP/RAP to foreign tourists was issued only from Rangpo, Siliguri, Delhi and Kolkata.
The demand for allowing Darjeeling and Melli TICs to issue permits was a major demand of the State Government keeping in view of the importance of these two centres for tourism promotion.
Once all the above relaxations are officially notified by the State Government where formal delegation of permit powers to Melli TIC will open up South and West districts for foreign tourists.
Usually, foreign tourists have to come to Rangpo TIC for the permits and then detour back to Melli for visiting South and West Districts.
The State government has been putting pressure on the Centre for relaxation on the permit system. It had explicitly told the Centre that restrictive regime imposed by the ILP formality has discouraged many of the prospective tourists to visit Sikkim.
The relaxation as intimidated to the State by the Centre is expected to make the visit of foreign tourists comfortable and could enable them to reach the interiors of rural Sikkim where rural tourism are being promoted.

TAAS reaches out to help local tourism

Gangtok,August24: Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS) yesterday conducted a familiarization trip of Aritar-Dalapchand region in East Sikkim with an objective to help the local tourism stakeholders in promoting tourism in the region. The team was led by TAAS President Paljor Lachungpa. The team conducted a survey of Lampohkeri Lake and other nearby tourist attractions of the region before meeting the two local tourism bodies - Aritar Dalapchand Lamphokeri Development Society (ADLDS) and Dalapchand Aritar Village Tourism Cooperative Society (DAVTCS).
The TAAS team addressed the representatives of the two local bodies and sensitized them on the need of capacity building in order to advance the tourism efforts of State government. TAAS president reminded the two bodies that they have earlier held a meeting some years back. He highlighted that the two bodies must identify products.
TAAS needs feedback mainly on the quality and quantity of home stays and other attractions so that tourists are encouraged to stay there for a couple of nights which will bring benefit and revenue to the local people, Mr. Lachungpa told the local stakeholders.
TAAS general Secretary Lukendra Rasaily informed that the team had found Aritar Dalapchand region very promising for ecotourism and village tourism.
“We have three wings - adventure, eco tourism and village tourism. We are trying to link up with the government for rural tourism. We are ready to extend all possible help to the local tourism societies”, Mr. Rasaily said.
At Aritar, tourism minister Mr. Bhim Dhungel had an informal chat with TAAS members. The minister requested the apex body of tour operators in Sikkim to promote “Year of Toutism-2010”.

Sikkim Tourism Joins hands with Gujrat Tourism

GANGTOK, August 22: The Tourism Corporation of Gujarat (TGCL) has agreed to sell STDC (Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation) package tour through their travel desk.
This agreement was made in principal recently after the STDC Chairman NK Subba and STDC General Manager Vijay Thapa discussed with the TGCL officials on joint exchange business on revenue sharing basis.
Mr. Subba and Mr. Thapa were in Ahmedabad to attend the Travel & Tourism fair from July 31 to August 2, 2009 and at Surat from August 7-9.
They also met with the renowned travel agents from Ahmedabad and Surat and informed them about the travel package of STDC and other travel and adventure opportunity available.
After their meeting with the Chairman of the Ahmedabad Kite Flyers Association, Ujal Shah, who is an accomplished kite flyer and specialist in making miniature kites, STDC Chairman invited the association members to Sikkim and requested them to demonstrate their skill in Kite flying, adds a press release. STDC, it is informed has plans to include kite flying event in the tourism festival to attract tourist.
In Delhi, the two-member Sikkim team met with the executive director of PATA and enquired about the PATA membership service. They also met local travel and tour operators in New Sikkim House in Delhi and apprised them about the STDC tour package. The Tour Operators, it is informed said that Sikkim has become an important destination and they are receiving lot of enquiry to visit Sikkim

Sikkim Village resort run by physically challenged & orphans

Gangtok: Physically handicapped and orphan children are generally the neglected lot in the society. But for Mrs. Swarnima Gurung, the physically handicapped and orphans are the reliable and talented employees for her village resort. With their help, she has become a successful hotelier in the state.
Mrs. Gurung, a retired school teacher, runs Mandarin Village Resort at Kaluk, West Sikkim, since 2003 with the help of ten orphans and deaf and dumb persons, 19 to 25 years in age, from the surrounding villages. They all can do the hospitality work of the resort like other trained hotel staff.
“My resort is always full of boarders and there are no complaint about my staff who serve the guests as trained staff serve in star hotels,” Mrs. Gurung proudly said. Having seen their reliability and skill of work, Mrs. Gurung has made them partners in her resort business, she informed. “They are not my workers but they are my partners and I have made them open bank accounts to deposit the dividend from my business.. Every thing is transparent here,” she said.
“We have trained the staff for cultural programme also. Now they perform cultural programmes excellently,” she said adding that they are given extra payment and tips for their performance. Mrs. Gurung is currently planning to open horticulture, floriculture and piggery farming adjacent to the resort by employing more orphans and physically handicapped peoples.
“I think this is also one way to help and assist the so-called marginalized people rather than just opening of orphanages and homes”, she remarked

World's Unique Tourist Spots

Seattle’s Wall of Gum
Since the 1990s people have been depositing their masticated gum, resulting in a colourful sight on this wall in Seattle, US. The wall started in the 1990s, when people waiting in line didn't have a place to discard their gum, so they tacked it on the wall. The idea stuck, and now the wall has accumulated almost 20 years worth of chewed gum. Now, the 15 foot high and 50 foot wide wall is thick with gum! Some intrepid visitors have even moulded shapes and faces out of their masticated gum.



Forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater
Here people get down on their hands and knees to place their fingers in the moulds of their favourite stars. Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater in Hollywood, famous for the footprints, handprints and autographs by nearly 200 film stars. But during this intimate look at Hollywood's best, hands can get a bit grimy given that millions of fans sprawl on the ground and place their fingers in the molds of their dream stars.


Oscar Wilde’s Tomb in Paris
This tomb has a rainbow of hundreds of visible kiss marks adorning the grave. The graffiti on the monument is from admirers and fans of Oscar Wilde, the great Irish author, over the years - in lipstick. The tomb has been covered in all of its glory with lipstick, as fans dutifully clamour to leave lipstick traces on the monument. The oils from the lipstick threaten the tomb, and visitors have also been asked to stop kissing the tomb, although the practice still continues

St. Mark’s Square in Venice
It is full of hungry pigeons that are often touched and petted by tourists. St. Mark's Square lies in the heart of Venice and is one the most photographed attractions in the world. During the day, it is filled with people, pigeons and music. Feeding the pigeons in the square is a popular activity among the travelers. A visitor can purchase packets of corn from the vendors in the square and take his pictures balancing the birds on the arms.



Blarney Stone in Ireland
The stone at Blarney Castle gets kissed by up to 400,000 mouths every year. It is located in the village of Blarney about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Cork, Ireland. The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle. It attracts millions of visitors from around the world who wish to tour the castle and kiss the stone. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab, eloquence or skill at flattery